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It's still a great time to be an Ohio State football fan.
Yes, the missed kick in the College Football Playoff lined up perfectly with the New Year. There was the loss to the Michigan Wolverines for the second year in a row. And Buckeyes quarterback C.J. Stroud announced he would declare for the NFL draft in January.
But the Buckeyes still made the playoff. They still had one of the most exciting receiver cores in the NCAA to back up quarterback C.J. Stroud. They went on an 11-game winning streak as they ran through the Big Ten and beyond before being stopped by the Wolverines. And the team, even without Stroud, may still contend for one of the top spots in the Big Ten East and beyond.
Where Stroud once ran the Ohio State football offense, junior Kyle McCord will take his place. A former five-star prospect out of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, McCord has played sparingly in the 12 games he saw the field in during college. But he has two years of reliable reps behind Stroud and an offense looking to bring itself back to the College Football Playoff and win the National Championship for the first time since 2014.
McCord might not be the current answer for the team's championship aspirations, but the team still has plenty of holdovers to keep Ohio State at a highly competitive level next season.
Jack Sawyer, Steele Chambers and Tommy Eichenberg remain in the linebacking core. Buckeye safety Lathan Ransom will return for another season with the Buckeyes, giving them another solid veteran option as a defensive back.
But it could be one final piece that could be one of the best additions to the Buckeye defense.
Ohio State football's sneakiest transfer portal move: S Ja'Had Carter
One word described what former Jireh Prep Academy coach Ryan Williams thought about Ja'Had Carter: Fearless.
“Ja'Had was fearless tackling that kid,” Williams told Cleveland.com. “That told me it didn't really matter. He had the ability to compete at that level without flinching and breaking.”
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A former three-star recruit out of Richmond, Virginia, Carter passed up offers from Texas Tech, Florida Atlantic, Virginia Tech and Marshall to play for the Orange.
Regarded as one of the top safety transfer options by 247Sports, Carter will join Ole Miss cornerback Davison Igbinosun in the backfield for Ohio State football and as one of the team's top commitments in the transfer portal. Carter earned 136 tackles, 91 solo tackles, five interceptions, seven pass deflections and two fumble recoveries during his three years at Syracuse.
Syracuse cornerback Duce Chestnut, a former teammate of Carter's, transferred to LSU.
Carter will likely take snaps at the nickel safety spot, adding extra versatility to a defense that placed sixth in the Big Ten with 19.3 points per game and fifth with 231 total points allowed. The 6-foot-2-inch defensive back will provide the needed size for an important position in Ohio State's defense. He will have two seasons of eligibility remaining, giving the Buckeyes a solid stopgap as a nickel back or safety as some of the team's younger options develop off the bench.
Though the team won't guarantee starting spots for transfers, the plan for head coach Ryan Day is to use the portal to continue finding upgrades to elevate a potential championship roster.
“We've done a really good job of being thoughtful in those areas,” Day said, via Cleveland.com. “But certainly, the transfer portal has gotten bigger and bigger and bigger. It's become like free agency, so it's something that we're going to be a part of.”
With new and revamped competitors in the Big Ten West with the hirings of Matt Rhule at Nebraska and Luke Fickell at Wisconsin, as well as some other newer faces like Ryan Walters with the Purdue Boilermakers, Ohio State football may not have as easy of a Big Ten West schedule as it once had. It must compete in both divisions to stay near the top of the college football world.
Landing transfers like Carter, along with what is ranked the No. 4 recruiting class in the country by 247Sports, will undoubtedly help.
